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About that, from the way Reiji spoke this episode it sounded like he can't take Aila with him back to Aria, whether that means he's physically incapable of taking someone with him or because he's forbidden from doing so.

Lets start off in the morning, and what's a morning without a little chaos. Yep, Sei's mom and China stop by to give the boys some home made breakfast (somehow; mean don't think inns allow their residents to use their kitchen.), and find Aila in their room, what's worse, in a bath towel. Of course, Sei is freaking out by the development, as he suddenly feels intense pressure from behind him. Of course, Aila ignores all this, only captivated by the food, even adopting the sparkling eyes to boot.

Of course, the girl being in the room is not the problem in itself, but that China feels threatened by her, and I as Sei's mom supports her, she feels threatened for her as well. Not only is it just plain paranoia as there is another guy in the room, no matter how romantically oblivious he is, but that's not the important issue right now. Sei's mom should know this. and should put her matchmaking antics behind her for the moment. I swear there's nothing more annoying than your mom trying to fix you up with someone. Well, we finally get to the main issue later on. Thank goodness, but could have done without the hijinks. Good thing for Aila though that Sei's mom will allow her to stay with them.

Okay, last episode I mentioned how no one picked up on Reiji's mention of Arian, only to find out this episode that he has told at least Sei some time ago, and Sei's mom, along with the girls this episode. The problem is they don't believe him, and that's quite natural. Well, the girls don't believe him. Sei I'm on the fence about. He should know his partner better than anyone to know he wouldn't make something like this up.

Now, we get to the grit of the episode. A new character is introduced by the name of Julian Mackenzie, the grandson of the semifinalist to battle Meijin. We learn he and Yuuki attended the same Gunpla Academy, and that he was Yuuki's sempai. Anyway, the grandpa had heart trouble and had to be taken to the hospital. He preaches about he has not long to live, and ask Julian to take his place in the semifinals. We later learn this was all act, on the grandpa's part as he'll end up fine, to get his grandson back into gunpla. Why he quit relates to the school both he and Yuuki attended. From Yuuki, his support, and Julian's account, the school turned out to be quite strict and extreme with its lessons, having considered winning to be the most important thing, and that a Meijin should stomp both his friends and enemies in order to achieve it. With basically the fun of Gunpla being non-existent, he dropped out of the school and quit Gunpla to preserve his love for it.

This challenge to be obstacle for Yuuki in more ways than one. Already as the third Meijin, he already is trying to distinguish himself from the second generation, as he considers him a "bad example" (for good reason). Now, he was facing his sempai, who he never won against, serving as a wall he had yet to climb over. Lastly, Julian was well considered to be the next Meijin. In other words, Yuuki was also facing a person who could have have beaten him for the title had he stayed.

Anyway, I'm glad it ended well between them. Julian was worried that Yuuki may have adopted the Second's ideology about winning at all costs. However, Yuuki wanted to show him that intends to be different kind of Meijin that doesn't relinquish the fun of Gunpla, and succeeded. In addition, the grandpa's plan worked, and got his grandson back into Gunpla.

Poor Mao. The series has been treating him rather horribly lately. He couldn't get with the girl. Your pain from that has been meant to be taken for laughs for the last few episode. Now, after having his Gunpla repaired after his bout with Sei and Reiji, it gets destroyed again. Poor guy, he's become the clown of the series.

The battle between Amazing Exia and F91 Imagine was a breathe of fresh air from the the last two previous fights. It was really like a fight between two veterans, and it showed as such. Most notable, how they weren't moving in the beginning by going through dozens of simulations before actually starting. The abilities of the F91 were very high tier, and this was a years old Gunpla without having any maintenance done in that span of time. The coil that allowed to create after images with mass reminded me of the Carmila's condemnation mirage in Valvrave.

Amazing Exia also had top performance, even though it was really the same Exia from the 00 series. The use of Trans-am was expected, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. If this is what the gunpla is like when it's 80% complete, what would it be like when it's 100%? How does the Amazing Exia become Exia Dark Matter. It calls for a second season because I doubt it will be completed when this season finishes, and if Meijin will continue to use it after the tournament.

Lastly, Nils gets to research the gem lend to him by Reiji. I suppose many people called it that is was gem made of Plavsky particles. The truth is getting closer step by step. What will it entail?

Overall, excellent episode.

I saw Christina and Lichte and the two boys from Victory, but what were the other cameos?

Was a great episode. Right up to the point where they declared it'll be Trans-Am vs. RG System...thank you series for killing any anticipation for this rematch against Yuuki Tatsuya. This was probably the last great battle we're getting in the series.

A good episode as a whole. Was certainly an interesting showdown with using that trans-am against the F91. Certainly a way to paint his unit red without actually needing to do so .

Pure hilarity with Sei's mom and China showing up and Aila coming out in that towel. And rather instead of hilarity it was pure awesome . Gotta love Aila, when it comes to food the situation around her really doesn't matter.

Of course no surprise that Sei's Mother quickly agreed upon hearing Aila's backstory. No way she could send that girl out to the streets with nowhere to go. I'm sure it wasn't fun going through her history, but it worked out situation wise for Aila. Plus now Sei's mother has someone else to tease so it's all good .

While Reiji didn't seem to think he could take Aila with him, it doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible. If they have the tech that allowed Reiji to come there should be something that allows someone not natively from there to go back. Assuming of course that Aila's ability isn't related to her being from Arian. Though if she was that would probably make it easier to create a way to take her back.

One interesting thing is the kind of connection between the last two fights. Yuuki won beucase he had those sunglasses that took the glare out of the F91's attack which allowed him to dodge. A funny connection since the reason Aila lost was getting blinded in a similar fashion by the RG System.

Looks like we'll have a more relaxing pre-finals episode coming up. Though with the Sei vs Reiji bit....is Reiji going to fight blindfolded with one arm tied behind his back? Honestly seems the only way Sei wouldn't get instant curb-stomped.

More like I doubt PPSE will keep the obvious is obvious stuff for Exia for the final battle. I am sure they will change things for it when it becomes Dark Matter, such as letting it have extended time for Trans-Am usage or other techs that did not exist in the original or Amazing Exia.

If that happens I see Sei borrowing that idea for Star Build Strike to allow 1 or 2 uses of Speed, Aqua or Burst without having to absorb a shot.

He can't borrow that idea as they are in the finals, so Dark Matter is going to make its debut in the finals. Pretty much saying, right now he thinks Meijin will use Amazing Exia but when the finals come, he will see Exia Dark Matter instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blazer-X

You know, in retrospect, wouldn't Dynames/Cherudim have suited Meijin a lot more given its uses of sniper rifles, beam pistols, and missiles?

Eh, maybe but a popular protagonist (Setsuna: GUNDAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!)'s mobile suit going evil might be more interesting don't you think?

Well, where should I start? Lets get the comedic aspects & shipping outta the way first.

Episode starts with Sei's mom & china bringing the guys lunch, only to be greeted by a nervous Sei. Catching a wiff of the food, a bath towel clad Aila springs out only to trigger a lol worthy reaction from China & mom. All while Reiji is shown sleeping in a very cliched fashion.

Aila then brings up that she'd stay by Sei's house, only to be met with uncertainty. Upon realizing the mood, she goes to the now barely awake Reiji & insists upon staying at his residence. He then reveals that his home is in Aria & that he's a prince, only to receive some lols from everyone. Boy, will Aila be in for a shock when she finds out the truth.

Sei shouldn't have any reason to doubt Reiji though, he literally teleported in front his eyes back in episode 2.

Afterwards, Aila is shown telling her story to Sei's mom & China. Touched, Sei's mom welcomes her to stay at their home & at the same time, poked at the ReijixAila ship.

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Now for the more serious bits:

Julian's granfather, the semifinalist to face Yuuki, faked a heart attack for two reasons:

1. To get his grandson to return to gunpla battle
2. Because he knew he's no match for Yuuki.

Julian, a genius among geniuses was admitted to the gunpla academy, where he met his kouhai Yuuki. It is revealed that he's so strong that he was even considered to be a potential Meijin candidate had he stayed in the academy. It is also revealed that Yuuki has faced him seven time during his tenure with the academy.

For understandable reasons, Julian left the academy because it holds victory as the absolute most important thing in gunpla battle, where the concept of "fun" is discarded entirely. This is all thanks to Nidaime Meijin who trampled both friends & foes to achieve his status.

Also, poor Mao. The kid can't catch a break at all. His love life isn't going well at all & when he finally tried to let out some steam, he got crushed by the overwhelming strength of the F91 Imagine.

Now, to the day of the match, both Yuuki & Julian sortie & trade an entertaining first blow, then retreat a short distance each & begin to have a simulation battle in their user's minds.

Exia takes the initiative & starts off with the first move, only to be met by F91's Back Jet Stream coupled with a laser blast, followed by an attempted attack from behind in which Yuuki manages to destroy the rifle.

After exchanging a few blows with their lasers & showcasing their dodging ability, they trade blows with Exia Amazing's GN blade & F91's beam saber while Julian questions Yuuki's decision of becoming the Meijin.

Having misunderstood Yuuki, Julian suspeced him of following Nidaime Meijin's ideology & became victory obsessed.

Having been backed somewhat into a corner, Yuuki pulls out the one thing all GN Gundam's are known for, the Trans-Am system. It was expected, but it was still very entertaining to see. (Since 00 is my fave Gundam series, you can imagine the excitement I felt after seeing Trans-Am in action. Been waiting all series to see it & I finally do.)

Trans-Am being the hax system that it is, puts Exia's speed on par or even surpasses F91's Back Jet Stream & Yuuki uses it to overcome, overwhelm & crush F91 with little difficulty.

Fighting with Yuuki, reawakens Julian's gunpla spirit & he officially returns to the gunpla world while vowing to have a match with the Meijin in the future. We also have a worried Aila in the crowd, commenting to herself that Reiji'll have to fight someone (Yuuki) so strong.

Also, yup, I called way back when, that Reiji's gem would become a major plot point & that it'd hold the secrets of the Plavsky particle. (Not posted in this thread, it was during a PM conversation with a member.)
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Still, this begs the question, with only three episodes left, how will Dark Matter Exia come into play? also, what about the other unrevealed mechs like Miss Sazabi, etc...

Episode was definitely entertaining & the drama was nicely done, not dragged & gripping. The fight was short, but its epicness compensates. I haven't really got any qualms with this episode. It scores a 9/10. I only give 10 to absolutely perfect episodes. This one almost made the criteria for 10, but a 9's also good, right?

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Suppose there is an evil that justice cannot bring down. What would you do? Would you taint your hands with evil to destroy evil? Or would you carry out your own justice and succumb to that evil? - Lelouch vi Britannia as Zero.

RG system does not mean the knuckle, Speed mode or Aqua mode are the counter to Trans-am.

Actually I'm pretty sure it does. The Absorb System and Discharge System have a relationship in that you need one to use the other, but those systems are distinctly separate from the RG System. If Sei means they will beat the Exia with the RG System he means they'll beat it using the Build Knuckle.

It's interesting in some ways how the Trans-Am system worked in Gundam 00 without being annoying while the RG System has been a frustrating gimmick that I'll be glad to see gone when the series is over. Ways to go against it, counters, actual drawbacks to the Trans-Am while RG is an instant win button that has no downsides unless you use it after your unit has been nearly destroyed.

It's really too bad, I think the series would have done a lot better to focus on ways to make the Absorb/Discharge systems work. Those are systems that have downsides, require strategy, and have flare to them. Sadly they were mostly ignored barely an episode after being introduced.